The Orlando Sentinel wants to talk Phins with Rzayo24 (UPDATE W/LINK)

and Congrats! You reflect well on all of us here IMO. High 5!

Represent well.

If it was still last night I would offer you a hug, but that’s all over. It’s man time now. Pose and a high five. Make sure you drop a dig on Armando in there lol.

Keep us updated on the Q&A…

I’m confused on one part though… They said ‘your’ website. So maybe they just found it, saw your column on top, and assumed you run the place lol. So plug Matty too.

Congrats RZ!!! WELL, WELL DESERVED!!!!!!!!!!!

congrats bro, this site really is blowing up. Keep up the good work fellas.

Thanks for the share, and can’t wait to see the final product! If you do this good with your speeches this week, you’ll have a few A’s on the ole report card!

Good Job!

congrats Rz. i knew this site was something special and this just proves it. Everyone keep up the good work.

is f-ing hott!!!!

at this rate, espn and nfln should be calling soon too.

seriously, congrats, it’s like you finally made it to the bigtime.

When you are off hob-knobbing (I don’t really know what that means) with the rich and famous.

tell em to eat sh#! rzayo i canceled my sub cause you could’nt find a thing in thier rag about the phins….tween ch6 an the sentinal i get screwed on tv and the paper..and i’m only in o-town!..sent so many e-mails my fingers are sore..

i was just sayin’ someone needs to give you a job…. wel its not a job, but hey, close enuf? congratssssss brooooooo maybe it will lead to one : )

surprised…but gj.

ryan wiles hidden hammock

Grats RZ!

Im telling you, Ive been reading your articles only since september (Ima nub :) ) but I fell in love (yea thats right love lol) with your articles. You know how to make a lot of people laugh and thats tough to appeal to everyone. Keep em coming man and congrats!!!

They will sell more papers

this is very cool! congrats Ryazo …and to The Phinsider ..and Matty of course..this must feel good.. something to be proud of!

You must be pumped about this.. it’s nice to see this site getting press and recognition. I think it’s going to only grow a bunch more.. let’s keep it up…everyone here..we all make this a great place for Phins fans to discuss stuff.. it’s great and this is another notch in the belt so to speak of where this team …and THIS SITE has come

Great job everyone! :)

OK no problem, thank you for the help. My deadline is today. Here is the premise. In July I wrote a column basically saying how the Dolphins were terrible and had sunk to new lows — especially since Ricky Williams was the face of the franchise. I will enclose a copy of it so you can see it. I wrote this before Chad signed. anyway, the column I am writing for tomorrow is a mea culpa, in which I declare myself a moron and talk about how the Dolphins have done it. I want some perspective from people who live down there. So here are a few questions. Please feel free to add anything else you think can help me out. Thanks again! also, please let me know your role with the Web site (founder, contributor, how long you have been with the site, etc) and background (lifelong dolfin fan, grew up in miami, etc?)
 
—What were your expectations going into the season for the Dolphins?
—What do you think now as they have a chance to make the playoffs?
—How do you think the fans will react if they don’t make the playoffs? To me, it feels like it might be a disappointment because the expectations have been raised so much with their stellar play. Do you feel that way? If they lose the next 2 how will you feel?
—How have fans reacted to the success? How is it different from the 1-15 season?
—What is it like to go to games, and how is that different from last season? Are there more fans at games?
—What are the general comments on your message boards from fans about the way the season has gone?
 
I guess you can consider yourself a voice of the fans. I really want to know what you guys think. Thanks so much for the help, and here is the column I wrote in July:
 
  
Loyalties of longtime Dolphins fan go up in a puff of (Ricky’s) smoke

Ricky Williams?
Yes indeed, the team-quitting, marijuana-smoking running back is now the face of my beloved franchise, the Miami Dolphins.

(Pause for a good cry).
Seriously, who else is there? Now that Jason Taylor has gotten his way out of Miami and is off to the Redskins, the Dolphins are left with no marquee players for the first time since their expansion days. Even those guys were better than the garbage the team has collected for the 2008 season.

But what makes the Taylor trade difficult to take is this: His departure signals the final plunge in the Dolphins’ descent to irrelevance. I never thought that would ever happen, despite the events of the recent years.

Not when your team has a legacy of 17-0, not when your team has players like Griese and Csonka and Morris and Warfield and Scott and Buoniconti and Langer and Marino and Clayton and Duper. We were spoiled, knowing our team was a model franchise, spoiled knowing our team was a fan favorite from South Florida to South Africa.

I grew to love football because of the Dolphins, sitting on the couch in my Miami home on Sundays with my dad next to me as he explained the game while my mom and sister went shopping. I took pride in being a Dolphins fan, even through the frustration of losing in the playoffs every year, even through the annoyance of losing to the Jets and the Bills for what seemed an eternity.

Ricky Williams?

It felt special being a Dolphins fan. So special that I will never forget the time my dad took me to a Dolphins charity basketball game as a 7-year-old. We walked into the gym and I saw Mark Clayton standing there. Too scared to move, my dad encouraged me to walk over and ask for an autograph.

My dad took my hand and led me over to Clayton. My favorite receiver, sensing my shyness, put his arm on my shoulder and pulled me close to him, saying, “Don’t be scared!” He laughed and smiled big.

I still have the photo, and I will never forget that moment, how special it was not just to meet a Dolphin, but to be treated so kindly by one of my childhood heroes.

Ricky Williams?

Sure, there were times I had given up on the Dolphins, especially when 11-5 seasons turned into 9-7 seasons turned into 8-8 seasons as Dan Marino faded and the running back situation never improved. But they were the Dolphins, always destined to win more than they lose, right?

Not anymore.

Going 1-15 last season was bad. This season could be worse. 0-16 anyone? At this point, it is hard to envision the Dolphins winning one game with the players on their current roster.

Ricky Williams?

Granted, the Dolphins only won once with Taylor last year. Taylor was not going to magically get them to 10 wins and a playoff spot, and it was clear it was time for him to go. But he made the Dolphins worth watching, and made them recognizable to people around the world. Remember the giant Taylor robot in London last year, promoting the Dolphins’ game there against the Giants?

Now, the Dolphins are left with Ricky and his cast of castoffs: Josh McCown (or is it McNown?), Joey Porter, Vonnie Holliday. Et blah.

Bill Parcells alone is not enough to turn this franchise back into the glory team of the 1970s and 1980s and even the 1990s. Never in my lifetime have I had to watch the Dolphins without a Pro Bowl caliber player. Until now.

The patience will run out after another winless start. I can guarantee my 91-year-old grandfather will turn off his television at halftime of every game this season because he can’t take the losing anymore. My dad will just cross his arms and grumble.

790…..(gulp)…was WRONG. (GASP!)

i heard it correct…they even talked about it for like a minute….asking “why?”….another great call by the Miami Herald…

I WANT TO TALK TO YOU TOO…..
YOU KNOW THE IMPORTANT STUFF………..like is there any chance that next years X-mas party could you get a 21" instead of a 13"??
How many cocktails during an average game??
Does your GPA suffer during football season??
If you bang only 5 Miaimi dolphins cheerleaders, which 5 and what order??
Would you let Mr Sparano tea-bag you, in exchange for suiting up for one home game??

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/

Why did she say it was your site? It is Matty’s site. You stole Matty’s thunder. But hey, at least you represent. Congratulations.

And I never thought that I was here with a bunch of Marlins fans. I forgot most of you guys are near Miami. As a Braves fan, it kinda makes me sick.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-coladelson17121708dec17,0,1479714.column

NOT MUCH…BUT HEY A PHINSIDER PLUG AND A FEW QUOTES

looks like it will be effin freezing in KC. during the week its up to almost 40…Sunday the high is 18degrees with a low of 7degrees…then windchill…then snow…oh dear lord….PTR! PTR! PTR in effect!!!

http://www.wunderground.com/US/MO/Kansas_City.html

Thanks for the shout, man….. Woot Woot!

If ever the Egyptian Gazette inquires about our playoff push or the intricacies of Pasqualoni’s blitz packages, I’ll be sure to reciprocate….

you’re right, she didn’t use much of the interview at all. My favorite part is when she quotes you as saying “everyone will be ultra crushed and disappointed” and leaves it at that. Then she goes on and pretty much argues the point you made by saying how this team has already surpassed expectations, so no need to get disappointed. Like you didn’t say that immediately after the quote she used lol

And from the comments I read about her, nobody likes her. She’s like the Jemele Hill of the Orlando Sentinel. At least you got the site plugged, got your name in the paper. Hopefully nobody stalks you now.

in Orlando and just finished reading her story….what a turnaround….just like the team. I remember reading her story about the Dolphins not mattering and just got angry. Speaking of not mattering….does anyone remember Deon Sanders saying on the NFL network(I think it was sometime around the beginning of the season) “the Dolphins, I’m not gonna waste my time talking about the Dolphins”

haha that’s that lady that at the beginning of the season wrote a huge article ripping into the fins and saying how she couldn’t be a fins fan because we had no “stars”. i believe in that very article she called joey porter “washed up”.

glad to see she changed her tune & you set her straight and gave out a huge Phinsider name-drop.

How can beer taste a little colder? LOL

Great job Ryan, er, rzayo24

Awsome job RZ. congrats for the great write-up. And it’s good to see journalist like these eating crow and admitting they were wrong about the Dolphins….. I frickin love it !!!!!!!!!!

MISSION 2W !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You managed to halt the Tsunami of hate Rzayo single-handedly. wow!